Transgender people have a range of experiences with transitioning. Some may transition socially, legally, and medically, some may transition only socially, and some may not do any of these.

What does it mean to transition?

Transitioning is the process of changing the way you look and how people see and treat you so that you become the gender you feel on the inside. Transitioning can means lots of different things. It can involve medical treatment and hormones. It can involve changing your name and preferred pronouns. It can involve changing your appearance and dress. It can involve coming out to your friends and family. It can be a long and ongoing process. Or it can be something that happens over a short period of time.

How do transgender people transition?

There are two different types of transition, or ways to affirm your gender: social transition and medical transition.

Social transitioning may include:

coming out to your friends and family as transgender

asking people to use pronouns (she/her, he/him, they/them) that match your gender identity

going by a different name

dressing/grooming in ways that match your gender identity

For trans men, or FTM, medical transition may include any of the following:

Does everyone who is transgender decide to transition?

No, not all transgender people transition. For those who do, not all transition in the same way. Some may transition socially and not medically. Some may transition medically by doing one or only a few of the procedures listed above. Some may take hormones and decide not to have any surgeries, or just choose one kind of surgery and none of the others.

There are many reasons for the differences in how people transition. These medical procedures can be very expensive, which means that not everyone can afford them. Some transgender people may have health insurance that covers transition-related procedures, and some may not. And finally, but most importantly — not all trans people want all of the available medical procedures.

Regardless of whether a transgender person chooses to transition and how they choose to do it, they're no more “real” than other trans people who don’t transition. Someone’s gender identity should always be respected no matter how they decide to transition socially or medically.